As a huge admirer of both Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick, two cinema artists who inhabit the extremes of the medium, I was amazed to see a video clip of Woody giving his opinion of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey on YouTube.
HERE is what he said: "When I first saw 2001, I didn't like it. Three or four months later, I was with some woman in California, and I went to see it again, and I liked it a lot more. A couple of years later, I saw it again, and I thought, "GEE! This is really a sensational movie, and it was one of the few times in my life that I realized that the artist was much ahead of me!"
WOW! What a comment!
The video can be found at YouTube. The title is "Stanley Kubrick - The Cinematic Experience"
Sorry, Storyteller and Jim Phelps…I am not Techno-Savvy enough to post the link here.
I can hardly think of two directors who are more different in style and approach, but cool to hear Allen speak about Kubrick and 2001 this way. Kubrick has always been one of my favourite directors, while I've never been that keen on Allen. But comments like this make me appreciate the New Yorkian more.
I can hardly think of two directors who are more different in style and approach, but cool to hear Allen speak about Kubrick and 2001 this way. Kubrick has always been one of my favourite directors, while I've never been that keen on Allen. But comments like this make me appreciate the New Yorkian more.
That's "New Yorker, ya kooky Norweechian!
You may not find Allen's films to your taste but his favorite films are by several directors you yourself admire.
As a huge admirer of both Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick, two cinema artists who inhabit the extremes of the medium, I was amazed to see a video clip of Woody giving his opinion of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey on YouTube.
HERE is what he said: "When I first saw 2001, I didn't like it. Three or four months later, I was with some woman in California, and I went to see it again, and I liked it a lot more. A couple of years later, I saw it again, and I thought, "GEE! This is really a sensational movie, and it was one of the few times in my life that I realized that the artist was much ahead of me!"
For the anecdote, Kubrick used to admire Allen for his ability to fastly shoot a film each year. Funny how an artist admired the quality in another one that he didn't have himself.
I can hardly think of two directors who are more different in style and approach, but cool to hear Allen speak about Kubrick and 2001 this way. Kubrick has always been one of my favourite directors, while I've never been that keen on Allen. But comments like this make me appreciate the New Yorkian more.
That's "New Yorker, ya kooky Norweechian!
You may not find Allen's films to your taste but his favorite films are by several directors you yourself admire.
New Yorkian sounds much cooler!
It's interesting how certain directors admire other directors you wouldn't expect. Ingmar Bergman was a big admirer of Steven Spielberg, for example (so was Truffaut, of course).
I can hardly think of two directors who are more different in style and approach, but cool to hear Allen speak about Kubrick and 2001 this way. Kubrick has always been one of my favourite directors, while I've never been that keen on Allen. But comments like this make me appreciate the New Yorkian more.
I appreciate both directors, and they're both brilliant, but hey:
'......and it was one of the few times in my life that I realized that the artist was much ahead of me!"
That's not reeeeaaally the epitome of modesty, now is it?
Allen has said the same thing about Federico Fellini, that at first Fellini wasn't his cup of tea, then he became one of Allen's greatest heroes and inspirations (see Allen's wonderful "Stardust Memories"). I think we've all had experiences where something that isn't our cup of tea gradually becomes something that means a great deal to us. We also have plenty of things that we didn't like at first and still don't like.
I really like Gilliam, but I think he's way off in his reading of SCHINDLER'S LIST. I know he's exaggerating a bit in order to be witty and clever, but I've never once thought of SCHINDLER as having a "happy ending". Again, I get what he's saying "in general" about the dark-shaded Kubrick view against the bright-shaded Spielberg view, but it still sounds a bit off to me when applying that to SCHINDLER. The "Hey, we're saving people!" comment is cheap, and worthy of my pals down the pub on a Saturday. I can think of few films which addressed the Holocaust in a more mature, and genuinely (I really do mean "genuinely", Terry) moving way than SCHINDLER'S LIST.
I really like Gilliam, but I think he's way off in his reading of SCHINDLER'S LIST. I know he's exaggerating a bit in order to be witty and clever, but I've never once thought of SCHINDLER as having a "happy ending". Again, I get what he's saying "in general" about the dark-shaded Kubrick view against the bright-shaded Spielberg view, but it still sounds a bit off to me when applying that to SCHINDLER. The "Hey, we're saving people!" comment is cheap, and worthy of my pals down the pub on a Saturday. I can think of few films which addressed the Holocaust in a less mature, and genuinely (I really do mean "genuinely", Terry) way than SCHINDLER'S LIST.
I agree, way off indeed. I think he completely missed the point (I'm guessing he might not like a lot of Spielberg's movies). Finding a beautiful story amidst all that horror is the only thing Spielberg was trying to do, and he did it wonderfully IMHO. I don't think anyone left the theater thinking it was a "happy ending".
Sorry - when I said "less mature", I meant "more mature" of course. I edited my post, but the error will remain Fred's. Oh, and I forgot to add "moving". There, done.
I guess that the "finding a beautiful story amidst all that horror" which Fred mentions above is something that Kubrick wouldn't have focussed on. Still, I hardly see how one can "criticise" Spielberg for doing what he did. It's fine to observe the different approaches of each director, but saying that Kubrick's view would have been better is silly. Unless Gilliam was just giving his own preference. Even so, it seems misguided, almost like listening to someone talk about a film they haven't seen based on watching E.T. once.
Sorry - when I said "less mature", I meant "more mature" of course. I edited my post, but the error will remain Fred's. Oh, and I forgot to add "moving". There, done.
I guess that the "finding a beautiful story amidst all that horror" which Fred mentions above is something that Kubrick wouldn't have focussed on. Still, I hardly see how one can "criticise" Spielberg for doing what he did. It's fine to observe the different approaches of each director, but saying that Kubrick's view would have been better is silly. Unless Gilliam was just giving his own preference. Even so, it seems misguided, almost like listening to someone talk about a film they haven't seen based on watching E.T. once.
Spielberg makes "entertainment" for the masses. While it's based on real life events most ppl want to see an upbeat ending. It would only be a disservice if he put a positive twist on a straight up documentary of the same subject matter.
I'm pretty sure Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune were great admirers of the John Ford-John Wayne collaborations though I suppose the differences between these two director-actor legends might not be all that different after all.
I'm pretty sure Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune were great admirers of the John Ford-John Wayne collaborations though I suppose the differences between these two director-actor legends might not be all that different after all.
Elia Kazan used to worship John Ford's "Stagecoach" that he watched fifty times on a movie theater. Another case of an artist enjoying polar opposite artist's work.
I'm pretty sure Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune were great admirers of the John Ford-John Wayne collaborations though I suppose the differences between these two director-actor legends might not be all that different after all.
Elia Kazan used to worship John Ford's "Stagecoach" that he watched fifty times on a movie theater. Another case of an artist enjoying polar opposite artist's work.
Martin Scorsese claims to watch The Searchers once a year, though Scorsese is always allowing himself to be interviewed, isn't he?
